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Wednesday, 8 April 2015

Back in February you may recall my Valentine's line-up was dedicated to one brand, Pour Moi? I was contacted by the company who offered me a set to review, so naturally I chose my 'No. 1' set from the gorgeous Boudoir range.

*Firstly and most importantly, Pour Moi? don't make my current size of 28GG/H so I had to sister size to a 30G.*

The Boudoir range from Pour Moi? is made in an elegant nude mesh with black trim, straps and floral embroidered motifs. I consider the Boudoir range to be a practical way of wearing a burlesque look, with the floral motifs hinting at nipple pasties. I have to admit, I ADORE the strappy look of this range and should I ever book another shoot with My Boudoir I plan on wearing it with few extra accessories.

The Unpadded Boudoir Bra comes in sizes 30D-G, 32-36B-G and 38-40C-G and costs £28. It has sheer cups with strategically placed black floral motifs to ensure no nipple show if that's something you guard against. The underwiring is highlighted in black to mirror the trim at the top of the cups and the straps are black and fully adjustable. As I've sister sized, I expected the cups to fit well, but I feel a cup size bigger would have fitted better, so if you can, size up in the cup but stick to your usual band.

Next up, the Half Padded Boudoir Bra, £28 in sizes 30D-G, 32-34B-G and 38-40C-G. now this bra is interesting! Unlike anything I've ever seen before it has a half cup, again with the floral motif and black underwire casing, and a...how do I describe this...a floating trim? It'll make more sense when you see the photos.Sadly this bra runs smaller in the cup by around a whole cup size, so size up by two cups and stick to your usual band. That said, this bra was clearly designed with seduction in mind so I guess fit isn't all that important!

I was also sent the Boudoir Thong in a size 16 (£12 sizes 8-16) and Boudoir Suspender in a Large (£20 sizes S-XL). The Boudoir Thong is a perfect fit, if a touch baggy in the front and I love the strappy detail. It works beautifully with the Boudoir Suspender as you can see. Ideally a smaller suspender belt would have been preferable as I've ventured out before in a suspender belt that sits on my hips rather than my waist before and ended up with my stockings slipping!

So do you love this show stopping set as much as I do? Are you thinking of buying it?

As you all know, I'm slightly obsessed with Jessica Rabbit but her 'traditional' floor length gown is somewhat impractical, so when I came across this shorter version, aptly named Jessica by Gerry Roxby for Glamour Bunny, I instantly added her to my lust list.

Priced at £80 I wasn't about to go crazy and impulse buy her, so when I saw Blogger rebelangel was selling hers in a size Small for just £35 I almost snapped her arm off!

Jessica sits just below the knee on me at 5'2", has a split at the back to ease walking and is made from a stretch sequin fabric. The bodice is plastic boned which can be awkward for some, me included, as it tends to create a more angular shape rather than rounded like what I was getting in my Gossard Egoboost strapless bra.I think the idea is that you can wear the dress braless, but to someone with a heavier bust this, as always, isn't possible. The bodice also has an elasticated strap with a bra fastening to help keep the bust securely in place. Jessica is fully lined and zips up at the back.

Apologies for the bra show!

As I mentioned before, Jessica is designed to be worn braless and yes, I tried it but it wasn't pretty! The plastic boning just isn't enough to hold up an ample bust sadly, so I tried it with my Gossard Egoboost strapless in a 30G (review to follow at some point) and it worked well, although Jessica didn't quite cover my bra fully. I'm sure a couple of carefully placed safety pins or strips of 'Hollywood tape' would do the trick nicely however. My other issue is that the shape of the bust line is more pointy than sweetheart, which would have been much more preferable I feel, and may have helped cover my bra.

Jessica is touted on the Glamour Bunny site as being ideal for hourglass curves, with the measurements in a size Small being 34" bust, 26" waist and 37" hips. I'm currently at 36" bust, 25.5" waist, 39" hips and it fits me well.

Under my Jessica I also wore my What Katie Did Vamp underbust corset to give me those exaggerated hips and a bit of extra bust support. I forgot to add my shapewear to smooth out the bottom of the corset so you can see the bottom line of the corset if you look for it.

I couldn't help but strike a classic Jessica Rabbit pose!

All in all, I'm very fond of my Jessica. It's definitely a, dare I say it, more subtle(?!) way to wear a Jessica Rabbit style and comes in other colours too. Okay, so it's not the most impractical dress as I'd have to wear it with a corset and strapless bra (come on ladies, they're not the comfiest piece of kit are they?!) but for a special night out where you want to make an impact it's absolutely perfect! It's always worth checking eBay for Gerry Roxby dresses as there are a few going for quite a low price from time to time.

Tuesday, 7 April 2015

If you're a regular reader here you'll be familiar with UK vintage reproduction brands, Lady V London and Collectif . Both online stores had winter sales a few months ago with dresses from as little as £20, so who am I to resist a bargain? 3 from Lady V, 1 from Collectif! All dresses I try in this post are a UK size 8.

I won't link to the individual sales page or prices for each dress because at the time of publishing, only 1 or 2 sale dresses remain so instead I'll link to the shape of the dress where you can see which if any) other fabrics are available.

Tip: sign up to their mailing list for the latest offers and sales.

For quite some time I've had my eye on the Isabella as a less expensive alternative to Pinupgirlclothing's famous Heidi, a swing dress with fitted bodice and sweetheart neckline made to flatter EVERYONE. I ordered Isabella in this gorgeous red wine polka dot, as modelled by the stunning October Divine below.

Sadly it didn't look as gorgeous on me! As always, my short torso let me down and it was a little on the baggy side too. A size smaller would have been perfect I think but it wasn't produced in a UK size 6. I also feel it doesn't have enough fabric in the skirt. It's more of a circle skirt than a full swing I'd say, and a small circle at that. If you add a petticoat it doesn't swing as nicely as Heidi does, it just sort of...sits kind of stiffly on top of the petticoat without a gathered, swingy effect. Does that even make sense?

Onto another Lady V number I've had my eye on for a while. This one I hold close to my heart as it was designed by none other than the lovely Georgina Horne of FullerFigureFullerBust. Named after a friend, Georgina put her heart and soul into creating a the Estella designed to make every super curvy woman feel like a twirly whirly dream! I chose the pretty pink rose print dress as it reminded me of the Rosetta I reviewed in a previous post.

Unfortunately I'm not quite curvy enough to fill the Estella out properly so the wrap neckline felt quite modest for me. I think it's better suited to those with a larger bust and/or longer torso than myself as the waistline was too long for me too.

The bad points aside, I liked the loose fit sleeves as it turned the dress from an ordinary 50's swing style to a sort of Japanese-y 1940's tea dress on me, which I quite liked. I then had the bright idea of throwing on my Orchard Corset CS-301 over the dress and adding my usual petticoat and it completely transformed it! What do you think?

The verdict; as much as I like the look with a corset, I probably wouldn't want to ONLY be able to wear the Estella dress with my waspie, so back it goes.

Lastly from Lady V London is an old favourite style of mine, the swing dress, this time in a gorgeous poppy print! I initially had a few fit issues with the swing dress being too big on the waist and/or shoulders so I stopped buying them, so I was reluctant to try again but with the Poppy swing dress in the sale at around £20 I threw caution to the wind.

I'm so glad I did as this version is made from a slightly stretchy fabric and actually fits without the need for a belt, corset or alterations! Hurrah! It's a tiny bit snug on the but I can live with that. I absolutely love the print and plan to wear it casually, out to dinner and even to work on November 11th! I tried the Poppy swing dress with and without a corset and petticoat and it looks good either way.

The size chart advised to size up if you are in between sizes as the gingham fabric doesn't allow for much stretch, but I often find Collectif Dolores doll dresses are very much hit and miss when it comes to a 'usual' size, so I threw caution to the wind and ordered my usual UK size 8. Thankfully the fit is spot on! Since the bust is ruched, I imagine it will fit most boobs, big and small.

As I said I'd already ordered and returned this dress before back in the summer because on me it's far too long to look cute. I'm 5'2" and it sits longer than my petticoat so it look a bit odd. I figured that I couldn't live without this dress at the sale price I got it for so I will get it shortened and won't return it!